The recent proliferation of independent telecommunications carriers has left the consumer with a multitude of options when placing a long distance or local call. Moreover, now that some long distance carriers offer inter-lata as well as intra-lata telephone services, there is even a wider variety of choices.
It is usually desirable, however, for an individual consumer to want to place the majority of calls with a single carrier, if possible, in order that he or she may take full advantage of discounts associated with a specific calling plan or because the consumer has familiarity and developed a comfort level with, and perhaps brand loyalty to, a specific carrier.
Depending on the geographic location of where a call is originated and terminated, and the carrier which provides the local and long distance telephone service, a predetermined sequence of numbers or a prefix code may have to first be dialed in order to gain access to the services of a specific telecommunications carrier. This is exemplified in the current situation in a number of states where carriers other than the local exchange carrier can be accessed by the customer for intra-lata calls by pre-dialing an alternate carrier access code.
This scheme is at times disadvantageous since a would-be caller may forget to dial the predetermined sequence of numbers or may be in a hurry and feel inconvenienced at having to dial the additional numbers. The resulting call may then be placed with an unintended carrier, wherein the consumer loses out on certain expected benefits, and at the same time may be charged at a higher calling rate than anticipated.
The above hardships would seemingly be eliminated if the intended communications carrier were always able to be automatically dialed upon placement of a call. Automatic dialing apparatus are known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,241,590 to Deakins et al. discloses a device for dialing a pre-programmed telephone number wherein the device is inserted between a cord connecting the handset and the body of a telephone. A push button switch on the device activates the redial function of a DTMF tone generator chip which is connected electrically in parallel with the microphone connections of the cord. The Deakins et al. patent, however, does not disclose a device for automatically dialing only a prefix or partial address of numbers in order to access a specific telecommunications carrier.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a simple and cost effective manner for automatically accessing the services of a specific telecommunications provider for both inter-lata and intra-lata calls.